Tis the season

Ahh, the holiday season. It’s my favorite time of year for a number of reasons, and as is the case with most things in my life, video games are a big part of why. Obviously this is a great time of year to find great video game deals, and for many kids it’s the time when they’ll finally get those games they’ve wanted all year as presents. But there’s a subset of games that scratches a more specific itch. Holiday gaming is great with games that are holiday themed themselves! Now, the bulk of these games are garbage. Stuff like The Grinch for Game Boy Advance, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for Wii, or Daze Before Christmas for Super NES (which isn't actually all THAT bad, but it’s not exactly good either). But there’s a very small handful out there that I sit down and play every single year. 

Follow the Leader

First up is Xmas Lemmings. Specifically the 1991 version, though 1992 was great too. If memory serves, Xmas Lemmings was a free shareware thing distributed back in the old days of floppy disks and DOS prompts. It’s just a handful of original Lemmings levels, except they’re all done up in Xmas themes. All of the Lemmings wear little Santa hats and dress in red instead of blue. The stages are snowy and feature goofy bouncing snowmen. And the music is all holiday music that’s jazzed up the same way the original soundtrack did other classical themes. It’s just a delightful experience all around. 

I used to love Lemmings on my Super NES. I had no idea it was originally a PC game as a kid, and I honestly have no earthly idea how I originally came across Xmas Lemmings back in the old days. But I have a very specific memory of playing it in my parents bedroom, where the family PC resided back in those days. That fun rendition of Jingle Bells kicked in, and of course moving the cursor around with a mouse instead of a D-pad, hooked me straight away, and I’ve made a point of playing the game nearly every year since. I did miss a bunch of years after my old computer died, but thankfully the Internet Archive exists, and now I can play it wherever I want, easy as pie! 

Christmas Dreaming

Next, we have Christmas NiGHTs. I remember the first time I ever played NiGHTs I was blown away by how simple it was. I thought it was going to be this big 3D thing, but it’s really a 2D flying game where you try to do stunts to earn points. But it had such a great personality, bright visuals, and awesome music. I was sucked in right away. 

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Of course, I didn’t have a Saturn. My friend did though, and I loved going to his house and playing Puzzle Fighter, NiGHTs, and all those other weird Saturn games that weren’t on other platforms. He wound up with that free Christmas NiGHTs disc one year, and I was just so darn happy playing around with it. Unlike Xmas Lemmings, Christmas NiGHTs is only a cosmetic change. The level design isn’t any different from the regular game. It’s just all holiday themed, as is the music, which again was great. It was Jingle Bells, but done in the style of NiGHTs music. It’s great. 

I eventually got my own Saturn, but I never managed to track down my own copy of Christmas NiGHTs. I think about 10 years ago, a friend of mine found out that I didn’t have it and wound up getting me one for Christmas. I bought this incredibly cool repro box and manual for it, and I’ve played it every single year since. Now that's some holiday gaming! 

Lost Ice Levels

This last one isn’t really a Christmas game, and honestly the level isn’t holiday themed either. But for some reason it’s inextricably linked to the season for me. In NES Remix 2 for Wii U, there’s a SuperMario Bros: The Lost Levels stage that’s all winter themed, and the music is this wonderful remix of the Super Mario Bros. theme done up with extra modern instruments that make it sound like Christmas music. It’s just that one stage, but I’ve played it every year since it came out because it fills me with an unusual amount of holiday cheer. NES Remix 2 was a great game in general though, so I guess any excuse to play more is a good thing. 

Those are my annual holiday gaming traditions that help me get into the holiday spirit. Do you have any holiday gaming traditions?